Brockton USPS Worker Sentenced for Wire Fraud of $90K

BOSTON (WBSM) — A U.S. Postal Service worker from Brockton was sentenced for fraud and embezzling nearly $90,000 in unemployment benefits.

Jamesa Rankins, 27, was sentenced to 18 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release.

Rankins had worked as an associate at the Montello Post office in Brockton. Before her termination in January 2021, Rankins generated postal money orders, including replacement money orders for customers if theirs were lost or damaged.

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Around September 2020, Rankins issued approximately 126 fake replacement money orders to an associate despite them not needing to be recovered and damaged. According to court documents, she issued nearly $90,000 worth of replacement money orders.

In May of the same year, Rankins also applied and obtained Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, although she was still working as a USPS employee. In total, Rankins collected at least $15,000 in unemployment benefits to which she was not entitled.

In November 2023, Rankins was convicted by a federal jury of one count of theft of government money and three counts of wire fraud.

In addition to her sentence, she was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $104,698.